Ajvide

Ajvide (Swedish: Ajvideboplatsen ) is a historic settlement site. It lies on the west coast of the Swedish island of Gotland, in the parish Eksta ( swedish socks ). It covers an area of ​​approximately 200,000 m² and was inhabited from the late Middle Stone Age to the Middle Bronze Age.

The main activities at the site took place in the middle Neolithic 3100-2700 BC. This active phase is attributed to the Grübchenkeramischen culture. To 2900 BC, the place suffered from the marine transgression, so a water level change in the Baltic Sea.

Since 1983, the Stockholm University and later the University of Gotland archaeological investigations of the site has performed. Inger Österholm (1942-2007) and Göran Burenhult, professors of archeology at the University of Gotland, have the most recent studies in the Neolithic Gotland performed, which included Ajvide.

The most important part of this discovery site is a burial ground, containing about 80 graves. In some cases, the graves were occupied by more than one individual, while others may cenotaphs, so empty graves were. Most of these tombs date from the period after the Grübchenkeramischen culture. Following the burial ground is found in the East an area with very dark soil containing a mixture of artifacts, pottery and bone fragments. In some texts, this area is referred to as a black area, which may have had a ceremonial function. Österholm, however, has suggested that it might have served the production of seal oil.

A significant layer of animal fossils (English " faunal assemblage " ) indicates the place of settlement suggests that the economy in addition to the fish based in the late Mesolithic on the hunt for gray seals, ringed seals, harp seals and porpoises. Cattle, sheep and pigs were introduced in the early Neolithic. However, in the middle Neolithic period there was an increase in seal hunting and fishing. Cattle and sheep, then returned in the late Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. It has been argued that the pigs that occurred during the Grübchenkeramischen culture on Gotland, during this time as wild or feral animals lived. This would imply a change in occupied nowhere to live as hunter-gatherers and not merely a stronger use of marine resources. The examination of bone fractures suggest that the bone marrow was extracted.